Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is the leading cause of acute viral hepatitis throughout the world. The distribution patterns of hepatitis A in different geographical areas of the world are closely related to their socioeconomic development. The endemicity is low in developed regions and high in underdeveloped countries. HAV infection is mainly propagated via the fecal-oral route, being the person-to-person contact the most common mode of transmission. Its biological cycle displays a viremic phase and an intestinal excretion. Transmission through the parental route may also occur. While in approximately 40% of the reported cases of hepatitis A the source of infection cannot be identified, waterborne and foodborne outbreaks of the disease have been reported. Within this latter category, shellfish grown and harvested from waters receiving urban contaminants is a cause of large outbreaks of infectious hepatitis (cf. M. L. Halliday et al., “An epidemic of hepatitis A attributable to the ingestion of raw clams in Shanghai, China” J. Infect. Dis. 1991, vol. 164, pp. 852-9; G. Sanchez et al., “Molecular Characterization of Hepatitis A Virus Isolates from a Transcontinental Shellfish-Borne Outbreak” J. Clin. Microbiol. 2002, vol. 40, pp. 4148-55). HAV is a potential contaminant of blood and consequently of hemo-derivatives, and also of bivalve mollusks, fruits and vegetables. It makes necessary the control of its presence in the raw materials and end products of industries of the hemo-derivatives and agro-alimentary sectors.
In the market there are kits for the detection of HAV with different sensitivity. The LightCycler HAV quantification kit from Roche Diagnostics has a sensitivity of 50 genomes/reaction. The RealArt HAV LC RT PCR kit from Qiagen has a sensitivity of 130 international units/ml. Both are only usable with the LightCycler instrument and FRET probes. Other methods for the detection of HAV known in the art are those described in K. H. Abd el Galil et al., “Development of a rapid and quantitative method for the detection of HAV using a combined IMS-molecular beacon-RT-PCR assay”, New Egyptian Journal of Microbiology 2004, vol. 8, pp. 428-43; and in M. Costa-Mattioli et al., “Quantification and duration of viraemia during hepatitis A infection as determined by real-time RT-PCR”, Journal of viral hepatitis 2002, vol. 9, pp. 101-6.
Thus, the development of sensitive reliable techniques for the accurate quantification of HAV in the above-mentioned types of samples is required to ensure the safety of these products. In clinics, it is required to prevent transmission of the virus through blood and plasma derivatives or by close personal contact.